Born in 1970 in the Czech Republic town of Strakonice, the 6' 3'' and 215 pound dynamo started his big league career as a mainstay on the Czech junior teams that competed in the European and World Junior Championships in the late 1980s. He went on to join the Budejovice club in the Czech league, and was chosen MVP for Budejovice in the 1993-94 season. He also played on the Czech national team at the 1993, 1994 and 1995 World Championships, the 1996 World Cup and the 1994 Winter Olympics. In 1996 Turek starred for the Czechs in the World Championship, recording an impressive 7-0-1 result and leading his squad to the gold medal.

After a short stint with Nuremberg in the German league, Turek who was drafted by the Minnesota North Stars in 1990 made his debut with the Dallas Stars in 1996-97 and split his time between the Texas club and Michigan of the IHL for the next two seasons. Turek consistently played well for Dallas in his first two seasons with the NHL club, recording goals-against averages of 2.05 and 2.22 respectively.

In 1998-99 Turek played a key role in the Stars' Stanley Cup victory, posting a 2.02 goals-against average and a .915 saves percentage while sharing goaltending duties with Ed Belfour. The impressive duo won the William M. Jennings Trophy for the team with the lowest goals scored against it, but more importantly brought the franchise its first-ever Stanley Cup.

Despite Dallas's success with their two top-notch netminders, things were getting a little crowded in the Stars' net, with two of the game's top goalies struggling for playing time on a powerhouse team. Turek managed to stay sharp by practicing more than he had been used to when he was a first-string goalie, often riding the exercise bike and jogging after practise.

In August 1999 Turek signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Blues. His multiyear contract freed him from the burden of having to play backup, and he he became the anchor of the Blues' defense. It was his steady play that was a big part of the St. Louis drive into the 1999-00 playoffs and their record-setting regular season as well as his second William M. Jennings Trophy. But after falling out of the playoffs in the first round two years in a row, the Blues moved Turek to the Calgary Flames in the summer of 2001.

Over the course of the next three seasons Turek suited up for the Flames, yet battled injuries in 2003-04 before opting to call it a career in the summer of 2005.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

W

L

T

SO

Avg

GP

W

L

T

SO

Avg

1987-88

Motor Ceske Budejovice Jr.

Czech-Jr.

1987-88

Czechoslovakia

EJC-A

5

1.98

1988-89

Motor Ceske Budejovice Jr.

Czech-Jr.

1988-89

Czechoslovakia

WJC-A

7

4

1

1

0

2.46

1989-90

Motor Ceske Budejovice Jr.

Czech-Jr.

1989-90

Czechoslovakia

WJC-A

6

4

2

0

0

2.58

1990-91

Motor Ceske Budejovice

Czech

26

0

4.73

1991-92

Motor Ceske Budejovice

Czech-2

2.28

1992-93

Motor Ceske Budejovice

Czech

43

2.84

1992-93

Czech Republic

WC-A

1993-94

HC Ceske Budejovice

CzRep

44

2.58

3

0

4.00

1993-94

Czech Republic

Olympics

2

2

0

0

0

1.50

1993-94

Czech Republic

WC-A

2

2.00

1994-95

HC Ceske Budejovice

CzRep

44

2.76

9

3.01

1994-95

Czech Republic

WC-A

6

3

3

0

2

1.50

1995-96

Nurnberg Ice Tigers

Germany

48

3.32

5

2.48

1995-96

Czech Republic

WC-A

8

7

0

1

1

1.88

1996-97

Czech Republic

W-Cup

3

0

3

0

0

7.32

1996-97

Dallas Stars

NHL

6

3

1

0

0

2.05

1996-97

Michigan K-Wings

IHL

29

8

13

4

0

2.97

1997-98

Dallas Stars

NHL

23

11

10

1

1

2.22

1997-98

Michigan K-Wings

IHL

2

1

1

0

0

2.52

1998-99

Dallas Stars

NHL

26

16

3

3

1

2.08

1999-00

St. Louis Blues

NHL

67

42

15

9

7

1.95

7

3

4

0

2.75

2000-01

St. Louis Blues

NHL

54

24

18

10

6

2.28

14

9

5

0

2.05

2001-02

Calgary Flames

NHL

69

30

28

11

5

2.53

2002-03

Calgary Flames

NHL

65

27

29

9

4

2.57

2003-04

Calgary Flames

NHL

18

6

11

0

3

2.33

1

0

0

0

0.00

2004-05

HC Ceske Budejovice

CzRep-2

15

3

1.61

11

6

1.11

2005-06

HC Ceske Budejovice

CzRep

31

1

2.26

10

1

1.84

2006-07

HC Mountfield Ceske Budejovice

CzRep

35

2

2.65

11

1

2.86

2007-08

HC Mountfield Ceske Budejovice

CzRep

42

6

2.14

11

3

1.59

2008-09

HC Mountfield Ceske Budejovice

CzRep

44

4

2.53

2009-10

HC Mountfield Ceske Budejovice

CzRep

38

4

2.86

5

0

4.43

NHL Totals

328

159

115

43

27

2.30

22

12

9

0

2.23

EJC-A All-Star Team (1988) Czech-Republic Player of the Year (1994) WC-A All-Star Team (1995, 1996) Best Goaltender at WC-A (1996)William M. Jennings Trophy (1999) with Ed Belfour NHL Second All-Star Team (2000) William M. Jennings Trophy (2000)
Played in NHL All-Star Game (2000)